December 8, 2025
Movie star Jay Kelly (George Clooney) wanted to spend time with his daughter Daisy (Grace Edwards) before she leaves for college. However, she had booked already booked a tour in Europe with her friends. Jay ordered his loyal manager Ron (Adam Sandler) and publicist Liz (Laura Dern) to get him on the same train bound for Italy with her, so he can invite her to join him to attend a career tribute organized for him in Tuscany.
Feeling pensive at this turning point of his career, Jay did plenty of reminiscing about people he encountered along the way when he was younger (Charlie Rowe as young Jay). There was Peter Schneider (Jim Broadbent), the director who gave him his big break. There was Timothy Galligan (Billy Crudup), his old friend from acting school to lost a big role to him. There was Daphne (Eve Hewson), a female co-star with whom he had an affair.
However, it was with his own family that Jay had the most conflict with because he had always prioritized his movie career over all of them. Aside from Daisy who would rather travel with her friends than with him, there was elder daughter Jessica (Riley Keough), who was seeing a therapist (Josh Hamilton) to sort through her father issues. Like his girls, Jay also had trouble connecting with his own father (Stacy Keach).
At this senior statesman stage in his real life career, George Clooney was perfectly cast as Jay Kelly. His portrayal felt so effortlessly natural, you'd believe that these things were happening in actuality. Clooney's Jay was a suave and cool superstar, but when each and every important person in his life was turning him down, you can clearly see his ego collapsing even without a word being said. That climactic film montage tribute for Jay Kelly was a tribute for George Clooney himself, and those mixed emotions on his face say it all.
Also gaining much critical attention now is Adam Sandler, as Jay's hard-working, street-smart manager, which fit so well with his personality. When Ron finally realized that Jay was purely business and never a friend, he also realized that he had been prioritizing Jay too much, over his wife Lois (Greta Gerwig) and other clients, like Ben Alcock (Patrick Wilson). This scene, plus that perfectly timed tear when Jay held his hand, may well just win him the Oscar.
Three Best Picture Oscar hopefuls -- "Hamnet," "Sentimental Value," and now this "Jay Kelly" share a plot point in common. They were all about male artists who had once abandoned their families for their careers, and were hence having difficulty reconnecting with them. Mescal, Skarsgard and Clooney all gave moving performances, but Clooney is the only one gunning for Best Actor, while the other two had been relegated (unfairly) as Supporting.
Noah Baumbach directed and co-wrote (with Emily Mortimer) this reflective inside-look into a senior actor's life, and those of the people around him. Having been a filmmaker since the mid-1990s had provided Baumbach with so much behind-the-scene stories to work into not only Jay Kelly's story, but also Ron's, Liz's and his daughters. These interpersonal conflicts were brought to life with wit and sensitivity in Baumbach's signature dialog-driven style. 8/10
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